After the Second World War only two paddle steamers were ever based at Torquay:
the Pride of Devon, seen here alongside Haldon Pier, in 1946,1947 and
1948 and the Princess Elizabeth in 1960 and 1961.

At 230ft in length, the
Pride of Devon was much larger than the paddle steamers Duke and
Duchess of Devonshire (pictured above) which had dominated the local
scene from the 1890s through to the mid 1930s. This made her a bit of a handful
both at Torquay and at Dartmouth and precluded her from the beach landings which
had been at the heart of her predecessorsí schedules. Instead, Pride of Devon
offered a combination of short and longer coastal cruises from Torquay towards
Exmouth and Sidmouth, to Dartmouth and beyond to off Start Point.

By this stage in her career the Pride of Devon was quite a veteran having
been built as the Walton Belle in 1897 by Denny of Dumbarton for Belle
Steamersí service from Great Yarmouth to Clacton connecting with the boat from
London.

Called up by the military in the First World War she was first used as a
minesweeper and later as a Hospital Ship before being decommissioned and sold to
a Mr Kingsman who put her back into service on the Thames after the war. In 1926
she passed to the New Medway Steam Packet Company who renamed her Essex Queen
and ran her mostly from Ramsgate and Margate to Southend, Clacton and
Felixstowe although she was based, once again, at Great Yarmouth in 1937 and
1938.

After service in the Second World War as a PLA hospital ship she was bought by
the South Western Steam Navigation Company who had high hopes of giving her a
new future at Torquay as the Pride of Devon. But her impressive size
meant that she was expensive to operate, particularly in comparison with the
competition from the extensive fleet of small motor vessels with their tiny
crews and minimal running costs which dominated the local Bay scene. And she was
old and in much need of a re-build. Making her pay at Torquay was always going
to be a struggle and so it turned out.

Pride of
Devon's master Captain George Fowle. In 1967 he re-surfaced as master of the
Queen of the South on the Thames.

After just three seasons her owners could not afford to carry out the work
required by the Board of Trade for the renewal of her Passenger Certificates in
1949, so that was that and Torquay lost their only recently acquired paddle
steamer. Pride of Devon was towed to Grays in Essex and scrapped in 1951.